LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Shelf. ..^^^, 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




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MEMORIALS 



LIEUT. GEOEGE H. WALCOTT, 



fate of Ifet 301^ «. S. Coloub froops. 



^^ 



By C.M.-^ TYLER. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION 

By HON. HENRY A^aLSON. 




WRITTEN FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH-SCHOOL SOCIETY, 
AND APPROVED BT THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION. 



BOSTON: 
MASSACHUSETTS SAHBATH-SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

DEPOSITOnr, MO. 13 COUNUILL. 



C' 



EI 4^2 
3oHi 



Entered according to Act of Cougrcss, in the year 18C5, by the 

MASSACHUSETTS SABCATH-SCnOOL SOCIKTY, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



-L.I A irv 




X 



C5 



TO HIS MOTHER 

THESE MEMOraALS OF A NOBLE SON. 

A WIDOW, SOLITARY FOB MANY YEARS IN HER RESPONSI- 
BILITY, JUST PERMITTED AT LENGTH TO LEAN UPON HIS 
RIPENING JUDGMENT, AND TO BE CHEERED BY HIS MANLY 
AND SANGUINE WORDS, SHE SURRENDERED ALL HER BRIGHT 
ANTICIPATIONS, AND WITH SOLEMN CHEERFULNESS BENT 
HIM FORTH TO DIE FOR THE REPUBLIC. 

IT IS HER JOY THAT HIS NAME IS ENROLLED NOT ONLY 
AMONG THOSE OP THE NATION WHOM POSTERITY WILL NOT 
WILLINGLY LET DIE, BUT, BETTER THAN ALL, AMONG THE 
JUST IN HEAVEN, WHO SHALL SHINE AS STARS POR EVER- 
MORE. 

C. M. T. 



World, farewell I Of thee I'm tired ; 
Now toward heaven my way I take; 
There is peace, the long-desired — 
Lofty, calm, that naught can break. 
World, with thee is war and strife; 
Thou with cheating hopes art rife; 
But in heaven is no alloy, 
Only peace and love and joy. 

German Hymn, 1652. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The annals of no nation or epoch record more 
of self-sacrificing devotion, conscientious fidelity, 
heroism, endurance, patience, and resignation than 
have illustrated the bloodj struggle of our age in 
America. In the great civil war through which 
the nation has just passed, the fruits of the cul- 
ture of Christian institutions have been mani- 
fested in many forms. By their chastened en- 
thusiasm, their heroism in camp and battle-field, 
their patience in suffering, and their sublime 
faith in death, the Christian youth of the country 
have been the inspiration of noble deeds and the 
example for comrades. Taught around pious fire- 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

sides, in Sabbath-scliools, and churches of the 
living God, the sacredness of humanity, the series 
of events and the discussions growing out of 
them preceding the conflict of arms, were sure to 
quicken their patriotism, their love of liberty, and 
their sense of justice. Discerning for their na- 
tive land a glorious destiny among the nations, 
they were quick to hear the menaces against its 
life; loving liberty with passionate ardor, they 
instinctively saw the coming danger ; imbued 
with the charities and humanities of religion, they 
could not fail to see " poor, dumb, toiling millions " 
bending beneath the nameless woes of perpetual 
servitude ; and when the echoes of the signal-g'ms 
of rebellion resounded through the startled na- 
tion, they were prepared to offer themselves upon 
the shrine of a stern and lofty duty, with a faith 
that never wavered, and a hope never dimmed 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

by lost battles. The subject of this memoir 
was of this class of the youthful manhood of the 
country. Nurtured and trained in the creed that 
pronounces blessings on the peace-makers, war, 
its ambitions and glories, had no allurements for 
him. In becoming a soldier of the Eepublic, he 
was not actuated by self-interest, or impelled by 
hatred, nor lured by visions of martial glory. 
Duty was the inspiration of his action. Having 
known him from his childhood, appreciating his 
manliness, integrity, and conscientiousness, I se- 
cured for him a commission in the 30th regiment 
of colored troops then organizing in Maryland. 
I recall now his manly bearing and modest words 
when he received his promotion, and expressed 
to me his gratitude for the aid I had given him. 
" I shall try," he said, " to do my duty, so that 
you will never regret your kindness to me." I 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

followed with interest liis brief career till he sank 

beneath the burden duty imposed, — another 

sacrifice for the country. In the morning of life 

he went to keep companionship with the noble 

spirits whose unselfish sacrifices have made the 

RepubHc of United America dearer to all its 

children, — the Christian heroes whose good 

deeds, 

" Through the ages, 

Living in historic pages. 

Brighter grow, and gleam immortal, 

Unconsumed by moth or rust." 

HENRY WILSON". 



MEMORIALS 



There certainly is a growing distrust of 
religious memoirs. Devout and sensitive 
minds shrink from unfolding the inner life 
too freely to the world, as fostering a spir- 
itual egotism. And it is felt to be almost 
a sacrilege to invade the spiritual life of 
others, — to break their silence, and lay 
bare their sacred intercourse with God. 

A second and sounder reason for this 
distrust is found in the fact that religious 
memoirs pass, too often, into indiscriminate 
eulogy. The writer means to be truthful — 
to give a just portraiture ; but, in the ardor 



10 MEMORIALS OF 

of affection or of admiration, conceals faults 
and exaggerates virtues. 

The writer of these biographical notices 
appreciates whatever is sound in these ob- 
jections. He knows full well that thousands 
of America's sons, who have gone down 
among the '' hosts of unreturning brave," 
and have fallen victims in this civil contest, 
deserve to have their history written in let- 
ters of gold. 

The friends of Lieut. Walcott cherish 
for him a modest affection. They revere 
all the good and heroic spirits who have 
risen up to do battle unto death for the 
Republic, whose exploits in arms have 
made this truly an " age of chivalry." They 
claim no devotion to the Fatherland, no 
valor, no spirituality of character for him, 
as above many others ; but they feel assured 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 11 

that a written memorial of so bright and 
valiant a spirit — of one of such cheerful 
and uncompromising piety, and so staunch 
in outward living — cannot fail of exerting 
a good influence, especially upon the young. 
Retiring from our lines before Petersburg, 
entering the hospital to die, his fate smote 
sorely the hearts of those who knew him. 
Hon. Henry Wilson, U. S. Senator, — whose 
interest in the Lieutenant we shall have 
occasion to refer to again, — remarked, 
among other words of sympathy, " I am 
greatly disappointed to hear of the death of 
George. I have expected much of him ; 
the country has suffered a loss." 

The resolve is taken, therefore, to gather 
these reminiscences together, and to com- 
mit this little volume to the charitable re- 
gards of all who admire a young Christian 
officer. 



12 MEMORIALS OF 

George Henry Walcott was born in Na- 
tick, Mass., October 28, 1844, and died in 
the hospital at Philadelphia, July 10, 1864, 
at the age of nineteen years and eight 
months. His father died when he was 
nine and a half years old. The review of 
the earlier part of his life will be brief. He 
was not precocious, — was not preternat- 
urally wise or good for his years. He was 
a boy of boys. No wise man affects to con- 
sider boyhood as commonplace, — as inca- 
pable of chivalrous exploit, — of poetry, of 
philosophy, of anxious forecast. The life 
of every boy who possesses the stuff of future 
manhood must be a study for the gravest 
understanding. No sagacious mind will 
consider the formative period of boyhood as 
only a period of vegetation, of frolic, and 
mischief. Nor is it profitable only to study 



LIEUT. G, H. WALCOTT. 13 

the boyhood of such as Napoleon, Canova, 
Beethoven, and Webster. Let the keen 
observer write with felicitous style the his- 
tory of any boyhood, — that of your own 
son, if you will, concealing his name, — and 
it may be as thrilling to you as romance. 

All boyhoods are original. Our boys 
have their days when they are heroes, or 
poets, or orators, warriors and statesmen. 
There is an eloquent mimicry of most every 
art and every profession. 

It cannot be doubted that the dark shadow 
which fell upon the home of George, filling 
it with silence and tears, never wholly passed 
away. In all sports and recreations, in all 
his real life and dream life, the edge of that 
shadow touched him. He was the oldest ; 
he must take his father's place. His mother 
must one day lean upon his arm and consult 



14 MEMORIALS OF 

his opinions. Though a child, he became 
more erect, and turned aside oftener to 
think. Superficial observers might scarcely 
detect this inner sedateness, this unconscious 
stretching up of the life towards manhood. 
But it gave him an earnest eye, a frank, 
soldierly manner, a disposition to rise above 
present boyish disputes, and made him a 
dignified young judge of the rights and 
wrongs of companions. Thus, like all boys, 
he swept the fields, climbed the hills for 
look-outs, scaled trees and high buildings, 
and explored the woods to learn the ways 
of all the animals that haunt there. 

The scenery of his native place is charm- 
ing. The apostle Eliot, in olden time, stood 
by its silver lakes, upon its rounded prom- 
ontories, where nestled canoe and shallop, 
and proclaimed the gospel to the Indians. 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 15 

A venerable oak still stands, beneath whose 
roof-tree he often spoke. From its hills can 
be seen, on any clear summer day, the dome- 
shaped Wachuset and Monadnock, fifty 
miles away. The chain of lakes, well 
stocked with perch and pike, and hunted 
by many a disciple of Izaak Walton, pour 
their clear waters into the distant reservoirs 
of the city of Boston, through a subterra- 
nean tunnel large enough to be explored 
with torches in boats. Here George flung 
his line into the waters, and bathed, and 
pulled the oar, or helped to hoist the sail, 
or moor any of the village flotilla. In fine, 
he was such a boy as would have entered 
with hearty sympathy into all the sports of 
rosy young Englishmen at Rugby, — regat- 
tas, foot-races, foot-ball, and gallant dash- 
ing on colt-back at liedges. He was one 



16 MEMORIALS OF 

Dr. Arnold would have rejoiced over ; not 
because of intellectual indications so much 
as because of the breezy atmosphere of 
healthful sincerity and manliness that went 
about with him. He was just the boy to 
listen to Arnold when, as Mr. Thomas 
Hughes, author of School-days at Rugby, 
says, '' He taught us that in this wonderful 
"world no boy or man can tell which of his 
actions is indifferent, and which not ; that 
by a thoughtless word or look we may lead 
astray a brother for whom Christ died. He 
taught us that life is a whole, made up of 
actions and thoughts and longings, great 
and small, noble and ignoble ; therefoi^e, tlie 
only true wisdom for a boy or man is to 
bring the whole life into obedience to Him 
whose world we live in, and who has pur- 
chased us with his blood ; and that whether 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 17 

we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we 
are to do all in his name and to his glory ; 
in such teaching faithfully, as it seems to 
me, following that of Paul of Tarsus, who 
was in the habit of meaning what he said, 
and who laid down this standard for every 
man and boy in his time." 

George was a fine rider of horses. The 
writer first saw him mounted upon a cele- 
brated horse well known at our county 
races. The owners of high-bred horses 
were ever pleased to place them at his 
service. He rode with the ease and grace 
of an English fox-hunter. 

He was a fine declaimer. With a clear, 
resonant voice, a soldierly air, an earnest 
glance, he made a marked impression upon 
the audience who gathered at the close of 
the session of the High School to listen to 



18 MEMORIALS OF 

the exercises so ably conducted by Mr. Rice, 
the former preceptor. All was natural and 
manly, — an entire freedom from the affect- 
ed tones and the ultra proprieties of the 
professed elocutionist. An incident may 
illustrate his fine oratorical power. A fes- 
tival of the Sabbath-school was held in a 
grove. At the conclusion of each little ad- 
dress of the boys, a salute was fired from a 
miniature battery. George delivered his 
address with so much force, dignity, and 
feeling, as to win much applause. Two 
salutes were fired, instead of one, as a rec- 
ognition of his ability. 

The school-days of George rapidly fled. 
He had his aspirations. He sighed as he 
thought of college. While others pressed 
forward in the walks of study, he must 
turn aside to business. He did not mur- 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 19 



IS bUH- 



mur, but entered with energy into hu 
ness. He won the lasting confidence and 
esteem of the gentleman — Mr. Winch — 
who employed him for three years, and to 
whom, for his fatherly kindness and succor, 
he expresses much gratitude in a letter 
written from Maryland a few months before 
his death. 



20 MEMORIALS OF 



II. 



The religious history of George dates 
from May 2, 1863. With all his genial and 
hearty freshness, his sensitive honor, and 
the manliness which his father's death had 
given him, he caused his friends much solic- 
itude. He threw energy into all things : 
he gave momentum to others. Like all 
ardent, passionate young men, he felt the 
power of temi^tation. Shunning, as yet, 
dissipation, scorning things low and debas- 
ing, his fancy threw a glow about many 
amusements which stand as ushers with 
golden rods upon the vestibule of the palace 
of vice. 

It is the old story. Young men are rest- 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 21 

less, imaginative ; vague, irresistible ener- 
gies arc uncoiling within them ; they must 
have scope. Like armed knights, they stand 
upon the edge of the field burning for high 
endeavor. Older people j)ut them aside, 
distrust their wisdom, and retain the enter- 
prises of society in their own hands. Per- 
haps this is right. The young men of 
America assume early enough the manage- 
ment of social and political affairs. But the 
question becomes a grave one, to all who 
love young men — who admire and never 
sneer at young enthusiasm, and who realize 
that it is one of the most potent and useful 
facts of our nature : What shall be done for 
our youth in this transition period, wherein, 
though certain faculties were never more 
capable, they must still wait for the harden- 
ing of their fibre, for the discipline of the 



22 MEMORIALS OF 

critical understanding ? Should we not be 
able to throw more charm about our Amer- 
ican homes ? Are there not innocent pas- 
times — festivals sanctioned by such men 
as Luther in other times — that may be 
adopted to make home dear to boys and 
young men ? Are not the English wiser 
than we in forestalling the pleasures of dis- 
sipation by rural sports and by fireside rec- 
reations ? 

It was in the' beginning of May that 
George considered the duty of beginning 
a Christian life. It is evident from his 
diary that by the influence of a fair friend, 
to whom he was much attached, he was led 
to ask the great question, What shall I do 
to be saved ? On the second of May the 
writer was invited to call upon him at once, 
if possible, at his mother's residence. He 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 23 

was in profound distress. He sank in 
deep waters, and the waves overflowed liim. 
He could not sleep or eat. The sins of the 
past seemed to come upon him in armed 
and thick array. Memories of his ingrat- 
itude to Christ seemed to smite him as 
fierce waves lift up a storm-tossed bark, 
" when rent are rigging, shrouds, and sail," 
and hurl it into the gulf again. It was a 
spiritual Waterloo. It had lasted for days, 
— a fierce, relentless contest with the Holy 
Spirit, of a passionate young will that said, 
with St. Augustine, " Lord, convert me, 
but not yet ! " God's time had come. The 
iron fingers of old sins were being broken. 
The writer, awe-stricken by the evidence of 
this terrible contest of spiritual powers upon 
an invisible field, knelt with him, and of- 
fered a petition to God that the struggle 



24 ]VIE^IORIALS OF 

might cease, and a full surrender be made, 
— offering such spiritual advice as seemed 
best, and then withdrew. In a day or two 
calm had succeeded storm, and then came 
the " peace which passeth all understand- 
ing." From the hour of this surrender 
George went forth with the spirit of a Chris- 
tian soldier. He became a member of the 
First Congregationalist Church, August 2, 
1863, on profession of his faith, with twenty 
others. August 25, he entered the acad- 
emy at Easthampton for a single term, 
before entering the army. A few extracts 
fi^om his diary will disclose his manner of 
life, impressions, and progress : 

''Sept. 29, 1863. — I went to the summit of 
Mount Tom last evening, in company with some 
of our boys, and returned this morning, at six 
o'clock. 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 25 

" Oct. 4. — Another Sabbath is past. The 
president has preached all day. This is the 
sixth Sabbath in Easthampton : only six are 
left. My school-days will soon be over. I wish 
I could go to college ; but the Lord knows what 
is best for me, and I trust him implicitly. 

" Wednesday, Oct. 28. — My nineteenth birth- 
day. A beautiful autumnal day. The sun shines 
warmly into the windows ; not a cloud visible. 
What a year it has been ! What can be in store 
for me the coming year ? God has been good 
to me. In this year jast gone he has revealed 
to me my danger, and caused me to turn to him 
before it was too late. I am a Christian. O Fa- 
ther ! help me, at the commencement of another 
year of my life, to form new resolutions, and to 
live more holily, and to do my duty at all times. 
Make me to feel that thine eye is ever upon me, 
and without thee I can do nothing. Help me to 
grow in grace. In thee do I place my trust. 

" Wednesday, Nov. 4. — On Monday eve we 
had a torch-light procession : speeches by Presi- 
dent Henshaw, Professor Hubbard, Hon. Mr. 



26 MEMORIALS OF 

Williston, Dr. Blanchard, President of TVheaton 
College, 111., Dr. Seelye, and others. To-day I 
have walked to the summit of Mount Iloljoke, 
and back, via State Hospital and South Hadley. 

" Nov. 7. — To Northampton to-day. Saw a 
pair of oxen of enormous weight, — over four 
tons. To prayer-meeting on Thursday eve. I 
love to go into the house of the Lord. I should 
not wish to live without God. Praise the Lord, 
O my soul ! 

" Nov. 8. — A delightful Sabbath. A prayer- 
meeting was liolden in my room this afternoon. 
G. and F. declared their intention to live for the 
Lord Jesus Christ. I rejoice that I am a Chris- 
tian. 

^^ Nov. 10. — Another glorious day. A meet- 
ing in the chapel. H., of Kansas, and B., of 
Vermont, and "W., of Pennsylvania, have re- 
solved to become the disciples of Christ. I 
resign myself wholly to him. He doeth all things 
well. 

"iVoy. 11. — A meeting in my room. S., of 
Savannah, Georgia, and several others, rose and 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 27 

spoke of consecrating themselves. The Lord is 
with us, and will bless us. Exchanged hats with 
D., of Pennsylvania, who desires me to remem- 
ber him by it. He is a good fellow, and has be- 
come a Christian. His parents are Quakers. 

^^ Nov. 14. — Next Saturday shall be at home, 
Deo volente. I descended a shaft into the lead 
mines to-day, advancing about half a mile into 
the tunnel. A meeting for prayer : new evi- 
dences of the goodness of the Lord. 

" Sabbath, Nov. 15. — The last Sabbath forme 
in Easthq^mpton has gone. Have heard Dr. 
Seelye for the last time. Have been thinking 
of E. to-day. Grant, Father, that she may re- 
member her promise to pray daily for me. 
Amen. 

"Nov. 18.' — I have been jolly to-day. Have 
been around with R. to bid the boys good-by, and 
have been frolicking generally." 

All the while George was at Easthampton 
he commended himself as the prince of 
good fellows. Frank, honorable, decisive, 



28 MEMORIALS OF 

lie carried his religion as a healthful ele- 
ment everywhere with him. He was fore- 
most in sports, and by his ringing laugh 
and manly bearing rendered his society 
indispensable. 

Meanwhile, the fires of patriotism were 
kindling within him. In his correspond- 
ence with his mother he was preparing 
her for a new career. Every bulletin from 
the army thrilled him, and confirmed his 
resolve to enter the ranks of his country's 
defenders. His mother justly recoiled from 
this surrender of her oldest son, upon 
whose arm alone she could lean, and who 
was her confidant. But she interposed no 
obstacles, uttered no syllable to chill his 
patriotic fervor. With tears she accepted 
the fact, and prepared to meet it. He 
writes, under date of Nov. 13, 1863 : 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 29 

" I know you are a good, kind mother. You 
must be a Spartan mother. I am resolved that 
the grand aims of my life shall be my God, truth, 
and my country. I wish to buckle on the armor : 
I must." 

Under date of Oct. 28, 1863, he wrote a 
letter whicli rings with bugle note : 

" Mother Dear : — I received your letter, 
and was glad. To-day is my birthday. I am 
now old enough, strong enough, willing enough 
to do something for my country. Abraham Lin- 
coln has called for three hundred thousand more. 
The brave who have gone send up a cry for help, 
that all may not be lost. Shall not that call be 
heard ? What future is there for a young man 
if this rebellion is not crushed ? Mother, I must 
go. Emma has one to care for her. The boys 
can all cut their way, except Fred. Do not 
think this a romantic impulse ; all that has passed. 
I wish to blend my efforts with others to do what 
I can for my country^ for humanity, and for my 



so MEMORIALS OF 

God. He can protect me on the battle-field as 
well as at home. He will never desert me. If 
he shall see fit to call me home — then there is no 
more sorrow. Mother, ask God to direct you. 
I have prayed to know my duty. 

Your affectionate 

George." 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 31 



III. 

Geoege lias enlisted. His journal opens 
with the year 1864 ; and he is in the camp 
of instruction, upon Long Island, in the 
harbor of Boston. Gen. Meade's army lies 
now in its winter cantonments, in the form 
of a sickle, between Alexandria and Cul- 
pepper. The handle of the sickle — the 
Fifth Corps — runs parallel with the Orange 
and Alexandria Eailroad, which it guards 
from guerillas. The blade of the sickle 
springs away at Beverly Ford toward Mad- 
ison Court House, round by Culpepper and 
Raccoon Ford, and the point stretches to- 
wards Fredericksburg. The affair of Mine 
Run is over, and Meade and Lee lie await- 



32 MEMORIALS OF 

ing the spring, and observing each other. 
Gen. Grant is coming from the Cumberland 
to examine mihtary charts with the Secre- 
tary of War and the President, and to pro- 
ject the sanguinary but victorious campaign 
of '64. Young warriors are hurrying for- 
ward, from North and East and West, to 
the different regiments and corps, in squads 
of twenties and fifties and hundreds. Gal- 
lant hosts are mustering from every hillside 
and valley and city, — many of them, alas ! 
to fall in battle. 

" Sabbath, Jan. 3. — What a Sabbath ! — my 
first in camp. The men seem to have forgot- 
ten the day. The Lord be merciful unto us ! I 
shall be glad to reach the regiment. For all 
that, I enjoy soldiering. 

" Jan. 8. — How different these from my 
school-days ! O God ! keep me in the right 
path. 



LIEUT. G. II. WALCOTT. 33 

" Jan, 9. — Still on Long Island. A letter 
came to-daj from Cousin Amelia. 

'•^ Jan, 10. — I hope I shall not lapse into the 
bad ways of army life. God helping me, I won't. 
The Lord is my help. In him do I put my trust. 

^^ Jan. 13. — To-day we have been drilled. 
Supped with J. A., who goes to-morrow to 
Charleston, S. C. Mr. Hazeltine goes to "Wash- 
ington to-day." 

Mr. Hazeltine was a noble man, of com- 
manding figure, finely chiselled features 
and flowing beard, who united with the 
church on the same morning with George, 
and who fell during the summer, in one of 
the battles of June, before Richmond. 

"Ja?2. 18. — Left Long Island at 1.30, with 
three days* rations. At G.30 P. M., in the cars, 
and off for Dixie. 

" Jan. 19. — At 9.15, at Jersey City. Stopped 
at Newport, R. L, over night. To New York 
to-day, and over the ferry. 



34: MEMORLILS OF 

" Ja/i. 20. — Somewhere in New Jersey. 
Left Jersey City last night at 12 o'clock. At 
2.15, P. M., we are at Philadelphia : all in cat- 
tle-cars, and waiting to start for Baltimore. 

"Jan. 21. — In barracks at Baltimore, and 
have slept soundly. 

" Jan. 23. — Alexandria, Va. In ' Soldiers' 
Rest.' The weather is like northern March. 
I sit upon the ground." 

"Alexandria, Va., Jan. 22, 1864. 

" My Dear Mother : I had heard of 

Virginia mud: 1 am acquainted with it now. 
Soldiers' Rest is a beautiful place, — a long 
white building for our barracks, another in 
which to eat, another for washing, and others 
still for purposes I know not ; the whole sur- 
rounded by a high whitewashed fence. Last 
night a gentleman of the Sanitary Commission 
entered the barracks and gave us some soldiers' 
hymn-books, then addressed us upon the subject 
so dear to us. 

" It is a lovely moonlight night. I can hear the 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 35 

distant cars running to tlie front. I shall get my 
gun tliis afternoon. Herman and I camped down 
together last evening upon the floor, using our 
knapsacks for pillows. We snoozed away most 
soundly. We marched across Washington City 
on our route hither three times. It would not 
have been military if we had not slung our knap- 
sacks and stood an hour or two, or perhaps half 
a day. Some grumble, but I expect this, and 
laugh while others scold. 

" Mother, it would be useless, I suppose, to ask 
you not to worry about me ; but it will do no good 
to be over-anxious. Even if I never return, it 
will be all right. God knows best. AYe can 
and must trust him. I feel safe in his hands. 
Be cheerful, mother ; for all things work together 
for good to them that love God 

" I am resolved to rise early daily, and to be a 
flrst-class soldier, and do my duty faithfully in 
every capacity, private or official. I shall be 
strict, but kind. Every officer should have been 
first a private. Discipline is the thing for an 
army ! You know my history. Mr. Winch is 



36 MEMORIALS OF 

not a bad disciplinarian : to be with liim and not 
come to time, is impossible. I hope to show my- 
self to be made of good stuff, and to resemble my 
mother. My health and courage are both good 
»— the latter better, perhaps, than it will be when 
I get before the enemy. I am not homesick. I 
love my home ; there is none better ; but I am 
doing my duty. 

Affectionately, 

George." 

" Camp 22cl Eeg., Beverly Ford, 

" Rappahannock River, Va. 

"t7of72. 26. — Now I am really in the army, I 
must try and live up to my religious principles, 
and, God helping me, I will. 

" Jan. 30. — One week in Virginia. I write 
in the woods, waiting to go on my post from nine 
o'clock to twelve to-night. We expect a guerilla 
raid. We will give them a warm reception. 

" Feh. 1. — Came in from picket, tired and 
dirty. Col. Sherwin sent for me, and gave me 
papers from Washington. I am to be examined 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 37 

before Casey's Board for a commission. A letter 
from mother." 

Tiiroiigli the kindness of Senator Wilson, 
George found hiniself in Washington Feb- 
ruary 6, and dined at the senator's hotel 
with his family. Senator Wilson procured 
an extension of his furlough, and gave him a 
recommendation to Gen. Casey. Upon the 
9th he was examined. On the 10th he lis- 
tened to speeches in the Senate and House, 
and explored the Capitol, returning to Bev- 
erly Ford on the 11th to await the results 
of examination before Casey's Board. 

"i^eJ. 11. — Reached Rappahannock Station at 
two o'clock, P. M., and marched to camp. At- 
tended the prayer-meeting in the chapel of the 
22d regiment. The colonel and other officers 
were present." 

The writer of these memoirs was chap- 



38 MEMORIALS OF 

lain of the 22d regiment, and the pastor of 
George in Massachusetts. He was received 
with great courtesy by Gen. Tilton and Col. 
Sherwin, and a chapel was at once erected, 
of considerable architectural attractions. 
The logs were jointed into the shape of 
sloping Gothic buttresses. There was a 
vestibule or porch, a neat gallery, supported 
by sturdy brackets, a platform and pulpit ; 
the walls were festooned with Virginia green. 
Seats, hewed from logs, were all around, 
leaving a centre aisle. Division and brig- 
ade generals, with their staffs, came to wor- 
ship ; and fair ladies from Philadelphia and 
New York, from Maine and Massachusetts, 
blended their voices with the choir organ- 
ized by Col. Sherwin. Officers came in full 
dress, as a mark of reverence, and soldiers 
wore their side-arms. 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 39 

Many a noble heart that sighed upward 
in prayer, and many voices of dear Chris- 
tian soldiers that stirred us with eloquent 
acknowledgments of the love of Christ, were 
in a few months to be forever silenced amid 
the carnage of the Wilderness, of Spottsjd- 
vania, of North Anna, of Petersburg. 

The voice of George was often heard in 
the meetings for prayer. He was ever the 
same cheerful, manly spirit, — ready at all 
times to speak of the goodness and love of 
his Saviour and Lord. 

For the sake of our young readers, we 
will sketch Virginia scenery and camp life 
as George found it. 

Stand by the chapel upon the hill and 
sweep the circle. Tlie Blue Ridgo rises 
like enchantment ; never Vas there so co- 
quettish a range of mountains. Yesterday 



40 MEMORIALS OF 

SO near that the gray rocks shone through 
the purple mist, and you could see tlic curl- 
ing smoke of hostile camp-fires of flying 
guerillas who scout the Shenandoah ; to-day 
they recede, and seem fifty miles away. The 
eye ever reposes with delight upon the grace- 
ful outlines. The atmosphere is an artist, 
and casts new mantles over them daily. No 
Flora McFlimsey or Pauline Bonaparte was 
ever so fickle, and yet uniformly elegant, in 
her costumes. 

Over the Rappahannock are the head- 
quarters of Gen. Pleasanton ; further on, 
the village of Gen. Meade, in concentric 
circles of rank. Upon the outside an im- 
mense stud of horses, well groomed and 
mettlesome ; then piles of pressed hay, high 
as a cathedral ; then the dress parade of 
camp carriages, light and artistic, for t\\t 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 41 

general-in-cliief and his staff alone ; and 
now the village of Gen. Patrick, chief of 
proTost ; then of Gen. Humphreys, who is 
the ''Gen. Gneisenau" of the army. At 
length you reach the centre of this city of 
canvas, and Gen. Meade is there the brain into 
which all these telegraphic lines converge. 
The immense army lies coiled about him. 
At a Avord from him, dense blue masses of 
soldiers would start from a hundred hills 
and vales, debouch from woods, and move 
in columns, converging at every tread 
toward some field of dreadful carnage. 
Telegraphic lines, sustained by slender poles, 
will always guide you from Sedgwick, from 
Warren, from Sykes, to the centre of the 
army. Our camp-fires, fuelled with the 
best of black walnut, remorselessly cut down 
in these old Virginia forests through which 



42 MEMOEIALS OF 

tlie Washingtons, Lees, Fairfaxes, and 
Spotswoods once galloped with hound and 
horn, are to burn for two months, and the 
army, like a huge anaconda, lie motionless. 

Let us look around us, see how the sol- 
dier lives, what gay officers are about, what 
are the occupations and pastimes of an ex- 
pectant army. 

The scenery has become desolate. Mil- 
lions of crows — genuine ravens, in suits of 
ghostly black, that would delight the gloomy 
genius of Edgar A. Poe — flap about us in 
squadrons, regiments, corps, and armies. 
Carcasses of horses lie frequent upon the 
plains, which these black surgeons have dis- 
sected with busy scalpel. You may crack your 
riding-whip, or discharge your pistol — they 
only rise a few feet, and flap slowly off a rod 
or two, in solemn contempt. They cloud 



LIEUT. G. PI. WALCOTT. 43 

the heavens at sundown, as they return, 
corps after corps, from a convention about 
the offal of the camps at Culpepper. All 
fences have vanished. Heavy caissons and 
artillery wheels have been whirled in the 
fury of battle across fields and through dis- 
mantled orchards, and stacks of chimneys 
are scarred and blackened monuments of 
the past. Old Virginia ht)uses echo the clang 
of sabres and the thunder of riding-boots. 

Gen. Sykes and his staff have domiciliated 
themselves in the house of a planter. Gen. 
Bartlett in another, Gen. Tilton in another. 
Proud Virginia girls are destitute of shoes 
and bonnets . Lazy planters — some of them 
despised by their own wives because absent 
from Confederate service — sit upon their 
verandahs, very African in dialect, very 
seedy, and very proud of Stonewall Jackson. 



44 MEMORIALS OF 

Their walnut and maple forests are melting 
away ; their negroes will melt away too as 
the army leaves. 

The soldier is busy picketing, cooking, 
washing clothes, playing chess and checkers, 
and opening packets from home. 

Dress parade, band practice in distant 
hollows, target firing — these are the order 
of the day. Occasional dashes of fiery 
guerillas through the lines and up to the 
headquarters of Gen. Schweitzer, sending 
his wife into the cellar, and rousing up staff 
officers in undress to fire their pistols in the 
moonlight at shadowy horsemen, — sudden 
ripples now and then upon the picket line 
wake us in the night, cause the colonel to 
send his orderly around to officers with a 
caution, and the soldier turns over to feel 
for his rifle, and then all is still again. 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 45 

Enter the hut of the soldier. Its little 
dome of two or three ponchos flaps in the 
wind, or is musically drummed upon by the 
rain. Pairs, triplets, quartettes of soldiers 
lie like spoons in a drawer, — changing po- 
sition, when tired, at a given signal, by 
mutual understanding, and with military 
promptness. They couch like Turks about 
the fire, shave by pocket-mirrors, fresco the 
log wainscot with Frank Leslie or Harper's 
Monthly emblazoned with imaginary pyra- 
mids of cannon-balls, belching columbiads, 
and band-box colonels and majors riding 
ridiculously in advance of their, regiments, 
upon fiery horses, into the smoke of war, 
and carrying, as no colonel often does, the 
regimental standard. The most expert dis- 
ciple of Soyer slashes the pork and the beef, 
turns it upon the coals, or fries the " hard- 



46 SIEMORIALS OF 

tack " which has been soaking over night. 
Tailoring, cobbling, military discussions, 
criticisms of generals, in all the confidence 
of a Napier or Jomini ; scouring of bayonets, 
reading of religious and secular papers, 
prophecies of speedy movement across the 
Rapidan, — all these in this microcosm of a 
few feet square. 

Meanwhile gay cavalcades of officers' 
wives (soon to be ordered out of the army) 
fly to and fro with military escorts, to ex- 
change courtesies with corps or division 
commanders. 

There are military balls. Suddenly the 
headquarters of Gen. Bartlett become a 
bower for a fair Rosamond — with its gate- 
way of green in the form of a lady's bon- 
net — with its winding avenues. Traitor 
ous -planters groan inwardly as bands of 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 47 

pioneers invade the groves, slashing the firs, 
spruces, and maples. 

Two polished cannon of bronze point 
down the hall. Eagles and stars of tin, 
swords arranged in clusters — flashing blades 
radiating from the centres or crossing each 
other as if wielded by invisible combatants 
— festoons of green forming a groined arch 
as of some Gothic temple, carpets of white 
canvas all adorn the saloon. There are 
senators' wives, a secretary's daughter from 
Washington, and wives of officers from 
many a state. The band bursts suddenly 
into a clash of music as a fountain hurls 
upwards its jet of waters from the pavd of 
some Alhambra, and crowns of bayonets 
gleam with their inserted tapers above the 
throng of beauty. 



48 MEMORIALS OF 



IV. 



The examination of George was emi- 
nently satisfactory, and he received a first 
lieutenant's commission. On the morning 
of Tuesday, March 1, 1864, the writer of 
these memorials escorted the Lieutenant to 
Rappahannock Station, and bade him adieu. 
On arriving at "Washington, he called upon 
Senator Wilson to receive some funds de- 
posited with him, then left for home before 
assuming his position in the 30th Reg't U. 
S. colored troops. 

After a joyful visit at home he proceeded 
to Camp Birney, Md., and was mustered in 
upon the 8th of March. A letter to his 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 49 

cousin \nll afford a sketch of liis move- 
mentSr 

" Camp Birney, near Baltimore, Md., 

March 13. 

" Dear Amelia : — I seize the first oppor- 
tunity to let you know my whereabouts. I ar- 
rived here on the 8th. Last Thursday received 
orders to report, with thirty men, on board U. S. 
steamer Cecil. "We proceeded to Point Lookout 
on a recruiting expedition ; but on our arrival 
Gen. Marston would not permit us to land, as 
we were entering Gen. Butler's department. We 
remained several hours, and I was introduced to 
the officers of 2d New Hampshire Reg't. Left the 
Point at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Had a 
beautiful sail upon the Chesapeake. We had a 
race with a steamer. As we marched through 
Baltimore, the people, on their way to church, 
observed us sharply, but did not disturb us. How 
different from three years ago, when the Massa- 
chusetts Sixth was assaulted in these very streets ! 
Tiwy fear the negro soldiers. My regiment is 
4 



50 MEMORIALS OF 

commanded by Lt.-Col. Oakman, of jMassacliu- 
setts. I like him. I am assigned to Co. E., Capt. 
Woodward; Second Lieut. Lewis Datrick. I 
have a good six-shooter, for which I gave twenty- 
three dollars ; so, beware ! 

" "We have a chaplain, a young man, and grad- 
uate of Amherst. He teaches the men to read 
and to write, and preaches on the Sabbath. 
"While he was preaching to-day, one of the men 
began suddenly to cry aloud, and kneeled down 
in the ranks. Not a smile was seen upon the 
faces of the rest. I hear very little profanity. 
Generally, the men are more moral than white 
soldiers. They never grumble : give them an 
order and they obey it. I would not change my 
position for the same in a white regiment. The 
officers are young, ambitious, of good principles, 
and good companions. Love to all. 

George." 

" Broad Creek, Queen Ann's Co., 

Kent Island, Md., March, 1S64. 

" Dear Mother : — I left Baltimore last 

TuescifLy, on another recruiting expedition. While 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 51 

superintending arrangements for departure, your 
letter was placed in my hands — the first and 
only one since I left you. Then came an order 
from Col. Thomas to report to Capt. Swift for 
special duty. So we started the next morning 
on steamer Balloon, steamed down the bay, and 
up the Choptank along the eastern shore to Eas- 
ton, Md. When we reached our destination, we 
confiscated a church to quarter our men in. It 
is just the place we want. The men are down 
stairs. Up stairs is a good room, with a carpet 
and chairs. We have made it our headquarters. 
Secessionists are very thick. There is one iu 
the room at this moment trying to create a muss. 
Last Monday we marched through Baltimore, 
and stacked arms in Holiday Street, before Holi- 
day-street Theatre, on the very spot where 
Marshal Kane rallied his men, in 18G1, for a 
plot to place the city in the hands of the rebels. 
" Capt. Swift passed examination at the same 
time I did before the Board at Washington, and 
is senior captain. One of our negroes was shot 
by a white man a day or two ago ; but the boy 



52 MEMORIALS OF 

was to blame, — he was intoxicated. Do not 
be alarmed about me." 

There is an almost prophetic remark in 
his diary : 

'^Saturday, March 26. — Another week has 
passed away, never to return. The time is 
swiftly flying, and I am nearing my heavenly 
home. There will be no more sorrow. I should 
like to take a peep into home to-night. 

" March 31. — Camp Birney once more. De- 
tached from my regiment. I am ordered to take 
command of Co. H, 39th U. S. C. T. 

^^ April 1. — Very busy to-day clothing my 
men and procuring their rations. Have just 
received a letter from my dear mother. God is 
good in giving me such a home and friends. 

" Sahbath, April 3. — Inspection. I have 
moved my company into another part of the bar- 
racks. It is communion hour at home. How I 
should like to be there ! 

" April 24. — Between Annapolis and Wash- 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 53 

ington. "What a Sabbath ! God help me to da 
my duty at all times. We have marched all day, 
and must lie down in the rain. Such is the sol- 
dier's life. 

'•^ April 25. — Virginia once more. Marched 
through Washington to-day, and saw the Presi- 
dent. Have had a tough march." 

Everything now converges towards the 
Rapidan. All along the base of supplies is 
collected the material of war, and boxes of 
" hard-tack " are piled high in air, like blocks 
of warehouses in New York or Philadelphia. 
A campaign as bloody as that of Wagram or 
Marengo was before us. In a few days the 
carnival of war was to open, and day and 
night the crackling of musketry and the 
pounding of heavy guns would be heard 
from the Wilderness to Petersburg. It will 
be forever impossible to accurately rcpro- 



54 MEMORIALS OF 

duce these scenes : the charges of cavalry, 

— the onset of divisions and brigades, — 
the fierce contests for particular positions, 

— the exploits of individual soldiers, which 
will forever lack a historian, and must go 
down into the silence of forgetfulness, or be 
recited, with flashing eye, by scarred and 
surviving comrades, by future firesides. 

For weeks Burnside's Corps had been the 
gossip of the camp. From Annapolis he 
could be hurled as a flying column in any 
direction. By this last week of April, his 
corps — the Ninth — pushed its advance col- 
umns to Fairfax, and began to throw little 
wisps of cavalry towards Falmouth and 
Fredericksburg. Lieut. Walcott's regiment 
was at Fairfax on the 27th, and at Man- 
assas Junction the 28th ; on the 4th of 
May at Catlett's Station, pushing for the 
front ; but where was that to be ? 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 55 

111 the Fifth Corps speculations were rife. 
Should we join Burnside, and storm Fred- 
ericksburg ? or would he suddenly take 
transports and proceed up the James or the 
York ? Would Meade attempt to turn the 
flank of Mine Run upon the left, or seize the 
inside track around by Madison Court House, 
crowding Lee towards the sea, and cutting 
the lines running south ? 

Gen. Grant soon arrives at Culpepper and 
fixes his flagstaff in the ground well towards 
the Rapidan. Taciturn as the grave, his 
corps commanders, up to the hour when 
grand divisions began debouching from vales 
and woods and took direction towards the 
fords, knew not which way the finger of war 
was pointing. Reinforcements were added 
to the Second Corps.* The First and Third 
were blended with the Fifth and Sixth. 



56 MEMORIALS OF 

Maj.-Geii. Hancock commanded the Second, 
Warren the Fifth, Sedgwick (alas ! soon to 
fall) the Sixth. The badge of the Second 
Corps was a lozenge ; of the Fifth, a Mal- 
tese cross ; of the sixth, a Latin cross. A 
straggler could easily find his corps, divis- 
ion, and regiment. 

The scouts of Gen. Lee, from the summit 
of Clark's Mountain, watched every cloud 
of dust. 

On Tuesday afternoon. May 3, Gen. Gregg 
pushed his cavalry quickly towards Ely's 
Ford, and Gen. Wilson seized Germania 
Ford. Soon an eagle flying from Rappa- 
hannock to Culpepper could have seen with 
his keen eye Hancock, Warren, and Sedg- 
wick all defiling by different roads, by the 
light of the stars, to Germania Ford ; and 
also, in the early morn, the convulsive start 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 57 

of Lee's forces as. with yells of exultation, 
tliej moYC rapidly upon our flank. Burn- 
side remains all day Wednesday on the Rap- 
idan, covering Washington. The various 
corps, pushing with great celerity, arrive at 
their first bivouac at the Wilderness on 
Wednesday afternoon, — the Fifth getting 
into position near the house Avliere Stone- 
wall Jackson was taken, wounded, the year 
before. On Thursday morning, May 5, at 
six o'clock A. M., the click of our pioneers' 
axes in the Fifth Corps is heard cutting 
down trees for abatis, and to clear the 
ground to afford range for the musketeers. 
Generals Grant and Meade are on the 
ground, and have fixed their flags at the 
old mill on the Germania road. The army 
is in position in the form of a crescent, one 
horn resting upon Germania Ford, where 



58 MEMORIALS OF 

is the Sixth Corps ; then comes the Fifth, 
then the Second ; the other horn resting 
towards Chancellorsville. Burnside has 
crossed at Ely's Ford, and comes just in time 
to fill the gap between the Second and Fifth 
Corps. 

The white troops and a portion of the 
colored are advanced to the front. The 
writer saw some of them go into position. 
A portion of them are halted in reserve, in- 
cluding Lieut. Walcott's regiment. The 
roar of battle floated back into his ears for 
two days. 

In his diary he writes : 

" May 2. — In camp at Manassas Junction. I 
have lived a year for my God. O God, help me 
to live a life that will be pleasing in thy sight ! 
In thee, dear Father, do I put my trust ! With- 
out thee I can do nothing. Save me for Christ's 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 59 

sake. Bless her through whose influence I was 
induced to seek thee. 

" 3Iay C. — jSTear Germania Ford. Roused at 
two o'clock this morning. We crossed the Rap- 
idan at eight o'clock, advanced to the rear of the 
battle-field, but were halted. 

" 3fay 7. — Roused at eleven o'clock last night, 
and marched to Gen. Grant's headquarters. The 
enemy opened upon us about five this morning. 
We whipped the force opposed to us, then ad- 
vanced to Chancellorsville." 

He passed over Chancellorsville field on 
Sunday the 8tli. It was the first flank 
movement after the Wilderness conflict. 
The "writer saw the Sixth and Burnside's 
Corps moving around towards Spottsylvania, 
but, amid the immense masses of troops, 
could get no glimpse of Lieut. Walcott. 

Let us go back for a few moments to the 
morning of May 5, and take a glimpse of 
the great battle that is raging. 



60 MEMORIALS OF 

Stand ill the centre of the crescent, and 
your nerves thrill at the slightest sj^asm of 
battle from right to left. Fifteen or twenty 
thousand reserves are bivouacked in the 
centre, making coffee with much noncha- 
lance, or moving in columns here or there 
to strengthen the reeling lines of fire. The 
peculiar odor of battle, — of gunpowder and 
blood, and of reeking horses, sullen clouds 
of smoke, crisped and burning leaves, — all 
float back towards you ; and little knots of 
cowardly stragglers walk up to you with an 
assumed air of courage, and ask you to show 
them, as soon as possible, the way to their 
regiments; while others, with slight wounds, 
sling their arms and wear the forlornest look. 
But these men are not numerous, and the 
steady roar of the fight tells of the heroic 
persistence of our noble army. From out 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 61 

every copse and ravine, and from hillsides, 
flow the melancholy tide of ambulances 
to their various hospitals. It is a dark, 
mysterious fight. The lines run winding 
through glens and thickets, along hills and 
into ravines, where the flash of muskets is 
the only guide for the rifleman. The deadly 
strife rages about every wooded height, and 
in every dark hollow. The waves advance 
and retire, now overflowing, now shattered 
upon brave breasts. As you ride forward 
there springs up a demoniac yell, then 
splashes of musketry, which in a moment 
become a rattling, deafening roar, and you 
feel the weight upon our lines, as if your 
own nerves terminated everywhere at the 
circumference of the battle. Suddenly the 
sound seems stationary ; a deep answering 
roll of musketry rises again, is wafted ii'om 



C2 MEMORIALS OF 

you ; you tliank God for our brave boys, 
and your blood bounds to hear honest 
Yankee cheers wind up this repulse of the 
enemy's charge. 

From seven o'clock A. M. of Thur&day 
till sunset the musketry is almost incessant. 
Artillery is not heard. No batteries can 
get in position. Lee is straining every nerve, 
by furious and rapid assault, at horrible ex- 
pense of the lives of his men, to shatter our 
lines, destroy Grant's prestige, and inspire 
our army with fear for the rest of the cam- 
paign. The result was the reverse : his 
own army never afterwards charged with 
confidence. 

The sun goes down upon this field of 
blood. One hundred and fifty thousand 
combatants cast themselves wearily upon 
their -arms to snatch rest. The woods are 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 63 

full of dead and dying. Groans of wounded 
officers and privates rise upward to the stars. 
Torches flash through the woods, and there 
are stooping comrades lifting tenderly the 
sufferers upon stretchers, or burying them 
in trenches. Our lines are where they were 
in the morning. The Fifth Corps has ad- 
vanced a half mile. Lee has been foiled at 
all points. He must conquer : a draivn hat- 
tie is a defeat for him. 

During the night the batteries are feeling 
out positions, and at daybreak the horrible 
bass of shrapnel or spherical case — tearing, 
hissing through the underbrush — will min- 
gle with the treble of musketry. An Eng- 
lish nobleman in the army declares it to be 
the most terrible musketry of modern his- 
tory. It has raged for fourteen hours. At 
dawn cannonading commences. There arc 



64 MEMORIALS OF 

tremendous assaults upon the left and cen- 
tre, and then upon the right. The Sixth 
Corps yields ground a little, loses Gen. Sey- 
mour, and retakes its line. A frightful con- 
flagration breaks out in front of Burnside : 
the dry leaves and brush burn like tinder. 
The heat rolls back for miles, and thousands 
of dying veterans must be shrivelled by this 
new and cruel foe. 

The weary armies rest for breath at me- 
ridian. At five o'clock P. M. brigades 
stealthily pushed forward — again collide ; 
there is an upleaping of divisions and corps, 
fearful charges, — the terrible roll deepening 
into ocean-like roar, accented with the heavy 
peals of Napoleon and Parrot guns. 

Again the sun goes down in blood, and 
Lee is crippling himself in desperation. 
The charges have been feebler. Yells are 



LIEHT. G. II. WALCOTT. 65 

not heard to-day, nor will they be heard 
again, but once or twice, then feebly, for 
the rest of the campaign. 

On Saturday the conflict at the Wilder- 
ness closed. Trains began to move round 
by the rear of both armies towards Spottsyl- 
vania. Burnside's Corps and Sedgwick's 
Sixth Corps were all day on Sunday, May 8, 
marching over the old Chancellorsville field. 
That division of Burnside's Corps which in- 
cluded Lieut. Walcott's regiment was em- 
ployed (according to his diary) in guarding 
the flank and rear during the movement, 
and encountered the enemy on the 7th, and 
routed them, advanced southward of Fred- 
ericksburg, and threw up breastworks, while 
our army was again grappling with Lee at 
Spottsylvania. 

The writer of these memoirs availed him- 



G6 MEMORIALS OF 

self of tliG opportunity to examine the field 
of Chancellorsville, memorable for the bat- 
tle under Gen. Hooker. The rifle-pits were 
still there. It was very easy to trace the 
lines, their advance and retreat. The posi- 
tion of our army seems to have been a good 
one, and one hardly knows why the enemy 
should have forced Hooker from his ground. 

On the 9th of May, the very day that the 
fierce battles in and around Spottsylvania 
opened to continue until the 18th, Lieut. 
Walcott's regiment was put into entrench- 
ments, still protecting the flank. Momen- 
tarily expecting an assault, and compelled 
to exercise sleepless vigilance, they yet es- 
caped the horrors of the week, and could 
only listen to the distant roar as it rolled 
back from Spottsylvania Heights. 

" 3Iay 12. — Still behind the breastworks. 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 67 

There has been the heaviest fighting to-day of 
the week : an incessant roar of artillery and mus- 
ketry since morning. It has rained all day. 

" May 13. — Still rainy. We marched at 
six o'clock this evening, and reached this place, 
five miles from Fredericksburg. It was an aw- 
ful march, through mud knee-deep, and in the 
dark. 

^^May 14. — Another week has passed away. 
The battle is still going on. "We are under 
orders to move to-night. I pray God to watch 
over me, protect me, and make me pure and 
holy. 

'•^ May 15. — In line of battle all night, ex- 
pecting an attack, — our batteries shotted and in 
position." 

On Thursday, May 19, the fires of Spott- 
sylvania smouldered into silence that was 
so profound as to be ominous. In the 
evening a sudden, fierce attack of Ewell's 
Corps upon the First Mass. Heavy Artillery 



68 MEMORIALS OF 

and one of the New York Heavy Artillery 
regiments in our rear partially explained it. 
This attack of Ewell was, in part, to recruit 
the exhausted commissariat of Lee, who 
told his troops that they must capture our 
supply trains or starve ; in part,*to cover his 
retreat towards Richmond. The writer was 
but three-quarters of a mile distant when 
the engagement opened. Lieut. Walcott, it 
seems from his diary, had a share in this 
handsome repulse of Ewell. His regiment 
left Salem Church at seven o'clock P. M., 
upon the double-quick, through woods and 
swamps, and were soon under the shells of 
Ewell's batteries. They were ordered to 
hold the road (the Fredericksburg road, I 
suppose, over which passed our ambulance 
and supply trains) at all hazards. The 
rebels were driven back in the moonlight. 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 69 

Lieut. Walcott remained there till Satur- 
day ; then marched to Guiney's Station ; 
thence, with some delays, to Bowling Green ; 
thence to Milfbrd, Newtown, and Aylett's ; 
thence to Hanoverton on the Pamunkey. 

The little diary of this noble and gallant 
spirit is not remarkable for its literature ; 
but it is nevertheless pathetic, and becomes 
painful as we near the last entry, written in 
pencil with a tremulous hand : 

" Sunday, May 22. — On the march to Rich- 
mond. Have marched all day, and expect to 
march all night. It has been frightfully hot. 
Oh, what a Sabbath ! I pray God to keep me 
from sin. God bless the friends at home. 

" Monday, May 23. — Marched through Bowl- 
ing Green." 

Gen. Warren was at this time pushing 
his Fifth Corps across the North Anna 



70 MEMORIALS OF 

River, and Gen. Hancock was pounding 
away at the junction of North and South 
Anna Rivers, crossing, and pusliing stead- 
ily forward. The battle of the North Anna, 
won by our Fifth Corps, was one of the most 
critical and successful of the campaign. 

" May 25. — We broke camp this morning, 
marched three miles, and are now in the woods, 
encamped a few miles south of Milford, Ya. 

''May 26. — At Milford to-night. My com- 
pany is on picket, guarding the bridge over the 
Mattapony River. I have written a long letter 
to mother to-day. I should like to step into the 
prayer-meeting at home to-night. 

" May 27. — We started this morning at five 
without breakfast: muddy and warm. I have 
some eggs and corn-cakes for dinner, and shall 
have a chicken for supper. I am first-rate : 
never felt better. 

" Sunday, 29. — On the banks of the Pamun- 
key River, near Hanoverton, twelve miles from 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 71 

Richmond. God be praised for the success 
which we are having ! I pray that the war may 
soon cease, and I may live to see peace once 
more. 

" Monday^ 30. — Heavy fighting a few miles 
towards Richmond. Four letters from mother, 
and two from Amelia, to-day, God bless them ! 

" May 31. — Another month is almost gone, — 
a month ever memorable in history. I thank 
God for his goodness. In the woods, on the 
road to Richmond from llano verton. 

" June 1. — I have a terrible headache. 
Fighting is going briskly on in the direction of 
Mechanicsville. I pray God to help me do my 
duty, and to spare my health and life. 

" June 2. — We moved a few miles to-day, 
and are near Newcastle. I am pretty sick. 

" June 4. — I feel very sick : I shall be glad 
when I get well. We have not moved to-day. 
There is heavy firing to-night. 

" Sunday, 5. — A lovely evening. The chap- 
lain preached this afternoon. It is communion 
Sabbath at home. I should like to have been 



72 MEMORIALS OF 

there. Yeiy heavy firing again to-night. Have 
written a few lines to Amelia. 

" June G. — At Old Church Tavern. I am 
much better than I was yesterday. We moved 
in the night, and have been throwing up entrench- 
ments. A letter from mother to-day. 

'-'June 10. — The cavalry pickets w^ere driven 
in this afternoon. We were out, but they had 
all skedaddled. 

^'- June 11. — The regiment has been out on 
reconnoisance. I have been too sick to go, and 
remained in camp. I pray that I may get well 
soon. 

''^ June 14. — I rode in the ambulance to-day. 
We are near the Chickahominy. 

''''June 15. — Sick, and lying in an ambulance. 

" June 16. — We have marched twenty miles 
to-day, and crossed the Chickahominy at 8.30 
A. M. We are now on the banks of the James. 

" June 17. — Very hot. We crossed the 
James to-day. I am in the ambulance. The 

rebels shelled us to-day I have been under 

fire. Crossed at Wilson's Bend. 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 73 

^^June 18. — I am very sick; have been riding 
in ambulance all daj. We are near Petersburg." 

On the 19th of June the writer rode to 
the front with Gen. Pearson of the 155th 
Pennsylvania regiment. On our return we 
found a division of colored troops biv- 
ouacked in the rear of Gen. Birney's head- 
quarters before Petersburg. It flashed upon 
me that Lieut. Walcott might be found. I 
soon identified his regiment, but found him 
not. We then rode to the ambulance train. 
I called George by name. There was a 
faint response, then an exclamation of joy, 
as he roused from a stupor of illness and. 
recognized my voice. A pang of sorrow 
entered my heart as I looked upon his palo 
face and eyes that l^jid lost their lustre. 
He felt sure that he would be sent on tho 



74 MEMORIALS OF 

morrow to City Point, thence to Washing- 
ton. I left him with this conviction, dis- 
tressed at the thought that I might see 
him no more. His surgeon was certainly 
severe : he should have been sent to the 
hospital weeks earlier. 

" June 20. — I am in a hospital-tent. I shall 
be so glad when I get well ! 

"Jime 21. — They have moved me from the 
tent to-night, and have placed me in a house. I 
am very sick. 

" Jane 22. — Still in the hospital. I shall be 
glad when I get where I can have good care and 
something to eat. 

" June 23. — Still at the hospital near the front. 
We ought to be moved : a shell struck the hos- 
pital to-day. 

'''-June 24 — They moved us to City Point 
to-day. It is no better than the other. Shall 
be glad when I get to Washington." 

This is the last entry in his diary. 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 75 



V. 



This history of Lieut. Walcott rapidly 
nears its close. Before many days, radiant 
with light and joy, he takes his departure 
from these scenes of earth. To-day, as I 
write, the grand armies of Sherman and 
Meade are passing in review before the 
President and Lieut. Gen. Grant For two 
days the serried ranks of brave soldiers are 
crossing the Long Bridge, and moving along 
the Avenue. Seldom, if ever, were Napo- 
leon or Wellington permitted to behold so 
grand an army at one time. Horses and 
riders are wreathed with laurel ; pennons 
flash in the sunlight ; tattered flags excite 
beholders to the wildest enthusiasm. 



76 MEMORIALS OF 

Alas, how many gallant spirits have fall- 
en ! This triumphal hour has been pur- 
chased by myriads of lives. The fields of 
Virginia, of Tennessee, of Missouri, of 
Georgia, are broken into mounds, where 
lie the brave defenders of the Republic. 
No field or state or country shall bound 
their fame. " The whole world," says Peri- 
cles, '' is the sepulchre of the brave who fall 
in defence of their country." 

Lieut. Walcott looked proudly forward 
to this hour of the triumph of the Republic. 
Thousands have, with him, passed away 
whose hearts throbbed quickly at the 
thought of the homeward march, the last 
review, — the 'acclamations of magistrates, 
citizens, mothers, sisters, and betrothed. 

Four brief letters were written by the 
Lieutenant after June 5. The first two 
were directed to his cousin in Boston. 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 77 

" Sunday Eve., June 5, 18G4. 

" Dear Amelia : — I am south of the Pa- 

mnnkey, ten or twelve miles northeast of E-ich- 

mond. Fighting was going on when I began 

this note, but everything is still now. From 

where I sit the roar of artillery, crackling of 

musketry, and bursting of shells have been heard 

distinctly. We have been guarding the wagon 

trains, and protecting the right flank. My 

strength is failing me. I shall be better in a day 

or two, and then will write a full account of the 

past. Love to uncle and aunt. 

George." 

" Old CHtJECH Tavekn, Va., 

June 7, 1864. 

" Mt Dear Amelia : — I wrote a few lines, a 
day or two ago, to let you know I had not for- 
gotten one who takes so much interest in my 
welfare. I was pretty sick when I wrote, and 
yet was forced, at one o'clock that night, to get 
up and march. Should have given out had not 
the major given up his horse to me. Had I 
been told what was before me, I should have dc- 



78 MEMORIALS OF 

clared it impossible — marcliing thus day and 
night. We left Manassas Junction, May 4; 
marched until one o'clock that night; started 
again next morning, and marched until nine at 
night; halted until two o'clock midnight, then 
forward again. Crossed Germania Ford at eight 
o'clock A. M. Friday, Gth. Immediately upon 
crossing, were ordered to quickly reinforce Gen. 
Sedgwick (Sixth Corps), who was hard pressed. 
We marched up lively, the men singing. It was 
a frightfully hot march through the woods. It 
amounted to nothing but to tire us out, for we 
were ordered back again to the ford. We halted 
until eleven o'clock at night, when orders came 
to advance. Passed the entire Sixth Corps; 
marched up a hill, and formed line of battle. 
Gen. Grant's headquarters were at the base of 
the hill, in our rear. There were seven or eight 
lines in front of us. About five o'clock the 
" Rebs." opened on us, and such a roar of artil- 
lery, peals of musketry, and bursting of shells 
cannot be imagined by one who has not heard it. 
This battle lasted half an hour. Gen. Grant 



LIEUT. G. II. WALCOTT. 79 

sat before his tent, smoking a cigar, as though 
nothing unusual was transpiring. There were 
troops enough in front of us, and we lay still all 
the while, and did not fire a gun. After the 
battle we were ordered to Chancellorsville." . . . 

The Lieutenant details the march to 
Fredericksburg and to Salem Church, and 
the double-quick march through the swamps 
and woods already referred to, to succour 
the First Mass. Heavy Artillery and New 
York regiments attacked by Gen. Ewell, — 
who was resolved to capture our trains, — 
and the movements of his division towards 
Richmond and the James. In the closing 
lines of his letter he says : 

"There are many rumors about the colored 
troops, but probably none of them are true. We 
have gone where we were ordered, and the fault 
is not ours that we have not seen more fi^jhtinof. 



80 MEMOEIALS OF 

" I wish I could tell you, Amelia, how much 
good your letters do me. They help me to be- 
come better. I strive hard to do my duty to my 
God at all times, and I pray that army life may 
not make me any the less a Christian. It is 
good to know that you pray for me. I have 
written ten letters during the campaign, and 
these to my mother. 

Truly and sincerely, 

George." 

" Old Church Tavern, Va., 

Sunday, June 12, 1864. 

" My Dear Mother : — A letter from you 
to-day, and was glad to hear from you. I am 
very sorry you are so anxious about me. We 
expect to start for James River to-morrow. 
Should you not like to see me, by the roadside 
sitting, with a ' hard-tack,' and a piece of raw fat 
salt pork, and a canteen of water, making a 
breakfast ? We are on the road between White 
House and Eichmond. The regiment has been 
to White House with rebel prisoners. I was 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 81 

not well enough to go with -it. I thought much 
of you last Sabbath. How I wished to be with 
you at communion ! 

" The ' Johnnies ' drove in our cavalry pickets 
a day or two ago ; but when they got to the in- 
fantry pickets, Co. A, Capt. Swift, they were 
checked. The cavalry came skedaddling through 
our lines. We were ordered out at double-quick. 
The infantry pickets held their ground. 

" It is a pleasant Sabbath day. I write under 
a peach tree, behind some earthworks. We are 
to have religious services at four o'clock. 
" Cheer up, mother ! Good-by. 

Geokge." 

And here is the last letter, in a trembling 
hand, written with a pencil upon a sheet of 
paper from the army wagon of the Chris- 
tian Commission, with its imprimatur on 
the corner : 

** JuxE 25, 1864. 
" My Dear Mother : — I am very sick in 
the hospital at City Point. I hope to be sent to 
6 



82 MEMORIALS OF 

Washington soon. •! can scarcely help myself, 
so -sveak am I. If I can get to Washington, I 
would go home if possible. Do not worry. I 
have not had a blue moment yet. I left the 
front, two miles from Petersburg, last Friday. 
I am too weak to write more. 

George." 



LIEUT. G. II. WALCOTT. 83 



VI. 



The failing young officer was tardily re- 
moved from City Point to Washington. 
An army surgeon has been severely criti- 
cized by many officers for detaining Lieut. 
Walcott upon the banks of the James, lan- 
guishing under a terrible disease. A little 
humanity and vigilance might have saved 
him for the country and for his friends. 
It was only by accident, as it was, that mil- 
itary friends got him aboard the transport 
for Washington. He was sent to the hos- 
pital at Philadelphia. His mother, in re- 
sponse to a telegram, flew at once to the 
bedside of her son. I shall insert her own 
graphic narrative : 



84 MEMORIALS OF 

" I arrived at the officers' hospital, Philadel- 
phia, at half-past ten, Sabbath night, July 3, 
1864, after a wearisome, anxious journey, fear- 
ing that I might not find ray dear boy alive. 
How my heart throbbed, as in that hot summer 
night I neared the hospital ! As I saw the lights 
glimmering through the trees, I prayed so ear- 
nestly that I might find him there. I reached 
the door ; I asked for the surgeon ; he came ; I 
told him that I was seeking my son. ' Is he 
here ? ' — ' Yes.' — ' Is he alive ? ' — ' Oh yes ! ' 
What a burden rolled from off' my heart ! I had 
found him, and he was alive ! The surgeon led 
me to George's bedside ; he was asleep, but oh ! 
so emaciated that I hardly knew him. I ob- 
tained permission to stay all night. The surgeon 
aroused him ; he looked up, and exclaimed, ' O 
my mother ! have you come ? How good I how 
good ! ' and he threw his arms about my neck, 
and kissed me. 

" I was calm, composed. I saw at a glance 
that he was very weak and low. I urged him to 
be quiet and rest, for I would remain with him 



LIEUT. G. II. WALCOTT. 85 

and care for Lim. * Can you ? ' said he. ^ How 
good it is to see you ! ' I asked him if he trusted 
in the Saviour. ' Oh yes ; Jesus has kept me — 
lias been vv^ith me all the while/ On the morrow, 
when the surgeon came, he said, 'My mother has 
come : please give all directions to her ; she will 
take care of me, and see that I have everything 
right.' Soon came the chaplain. George said to 
him, ' My mother has come : I shall now get 
well.' The chaplain told me that before my arri- 
val he had said that a kiss from his mother would 
help him more than anything else upon the earth. 
" On this day — July 4 — he expressed a 
strong desire to recover and go home. He ral- 
lied a little, and the attendants thought him bet- 
ter. The surgeon gave me no encouragement. 
George lay quiet much of the time ; was not in- 
clined to talk much ; asked a few questions about 
home, and replied to questions briefly. At the 
name of Jesus a smile would come, and his face 
would be radiant and happy. It was thus through 
the entire week ; his natural expression had been' 
very serious and thoughtful. 



8G MEMORIALS OF 

" On Tuesday he was more nervous — was 
wearied by the talking about him, and by people 
passing in and out the room. He asked me, * Do 
you think I shall recover, mother ? ' — ' Yes,' I 
replied , * I hope you will ; but God v^rill do all 
things well, and we will leave all in his hands.' — 
' Oh yes,' said he, ' we will leave all with God ; 
let him do just as he thinks best. I should like 
to go home again ; but, then, God knows best : 
if he shall call me to my heavenly home, it is all 
right. His will be done.' 

" At another time he said, ' Mother, when I 
am able, I want to have a long talk with you. I 
have thought of you much since I have been in 
the army. I never realized half so much before 
how many hardships you have endured. Oh, 
when I am well how I shall love to do for you ! ' 

" Mr. Hyde, a Baptist clergyman residing in 
the neighborhood, called frequently to see him. 
Chaplain Alexander Shiras — an excellent man — 
called several times in a day. He would repeat 
passages of Scripture or hymns, in which George 
would immediately join with his voice. 



LIEUT. G. II. WALCOTT. 87 

" On Wednesday I could see no improvement. 
I prayed most earnestly that his life might be 
spared. I told him that I had prayed for his 
recovery. He said he would pray also ; that 
God was able to restore him if he thought it 
best ; that Jesus healed the sick, and raised the 
dead even, when upon earth ; that his power was 
not lessened : he was just as able now as he was 
then. ' Who was raised ? ' — ' The widow's son. 
Perhaps he will raise another widow's son. We 
will leave it all with him ; will we not, mother ? ' 

"At nightfall he was weaker. Mr. Hyde 
called ; offered a short but touching prayer. ' I 
love to hear you pray,' said George : ' your voice 
is distinct and strong ; I am helped to follow you. 
I am so weak I can scarcely think connectedly.' 

" On Thursday he was decidedly worse. His 
mind was perfectly clear. At times, on first 
awaking from sleep, he would make a wandering 
remark, but on being spoken to, would become 
immediately conscious. I asked him if his head 
ached. ' Oh no ; my head is all right,' was his 
invariable answer. He had fever and disease of 



88 MEMORIALS OF 

the bowels, and ' his chances,' said the surgeon, 
' for getting well would be greater were it not 
for the scurvy which he has. His blood is so 
poor that it leaks from the veins, and settles 
under the skin,' — appearing like ordinary blood- 
blisters. In addition to all, there were large 
bedsores, incurred by the cruel riding in the am- 
bulances for so many days. Poor boy ! he was 
completely worn out. 

" I spoke hopefully to him, anxious to afford 
him the benefit of hope to aid his recovery. We 
had spoken much of home, in a quiet way, that 
day. In the afternoon he was unwontedly rest- 
less, and his distress evidently increased. With 
more impatience than I had before seen, he 
wished for something to make him feel easier. 
It was the only impatient remark he uttered. I 
said to him, ' Georgie, ask God to help you bear 
your suffering.' — ' I will, mother ; pray for me ; 
repeat some hymns, can't you ? ' I recited 

" * Jesus ! lover of ray soul, 
Let me to thy bosom fly.' 

" * That is it,' said he, — * let me to thy bosom 



LIEUT. G. IT. WALCOTT. 80 

fly.' In a whisper he prayed, ' O Jesus ! help me 
to bear my pain without a murmur ; help me to 
be patient; come near to me, Lord Jesus, and 
help me. I am weak, but thou art mighty, and 
hast promised to help all who ask thee. Now, 
I beseech thee, help me ! ' He became quiet as 
a lamb. After a little, he said, in a low, sweet 
voice, ' Mother, do you not think Jesus is nearer 
to us many times than we think ? ' — ' Yes, my 
dear, I do.' — ' Well, mother, he is here now — just 
close here. He is going to put his arms around 
mc, and take me to Ids hosom — and take me right 
to his bosom.' This he repeated several times. 
* Mother, are you willing that he should take me 
thus ? ' — ' My dear,' I said, ' if God can spare you 
to me, I shall feel it a precious blessing ; but I 
can say, " His will be done." ' — * That is right, 
mother ; " His will be done." Perhaps he will 
take me to his bosom to-night.' He continued 
thus for a half-hour, nearly in that same sweet 
undertone, then began to suffer again. ' O 
mother ! pray for me every minute, won't you, 
that I may not utter a murmur ! I don't want 



90 MEMORIALS OF 

to make one complaint ! ' Any one could see 
that he suffered acutely; but no complaint, no 
moan escaped him. ' God has a design in this 
suffering,' said he : ' he does nothing without a 
reason ; and he will help me to bear it. Pray, 
mother, every moment ! ' His distress continued 
for an hour. Then, in a clear voice, he began 
to speak of the Saviour and of heaven. ' Oh, 
how beautiful is Christ ! how glorious is heaven ! 
Is this death, mother ? How sweet it is to die ! 
The room is full of angels ! I see them. Plow 
beautiful you all seem to me ! Mother, I thank 
you for all you have done for me ; and, oh, I 
thank you so much that you ever taught me to 
be a Christian ! O God ! keep my mother from 
all harm ; bless her, and reward her for all her 
goodness to me.' I asked him if he was in pain. 
' Not at all.' Said I, ' What shall I tell them at 
^ome ? ' — ' Tell them that I die happy — I die 
happy! Mother, I shall not live to go home 
again : I shall die here. It is just as well. Tell 
all the dear ones to meet me in heaven. Give 
my Bible to Brother Frank : tell him to read it, 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 91 

and be a Christian. Give my Testament to 
Emma : tell her that many a time I have read 
it by the roadside after a hard day of marching. 
Ho^v beautiful is heaven ! My father and sister 
and many friends are there. Mother, don't you 
think I will know them there ? ' — ' Yes,' I said, 
' I think you will. There will be no pain there, 
or suffering.' He smiled at his attempt to sing 
the little hymn — 



(( ( 



There will be no more soitow there.' 



* Am I not a fine singer, mother ? ' — ' Georgle,' 
I replied, ' they all sing there, and you will sing 
with them.' — ' Shall I ? — shall I ? Oh, that 
will be beautiful, to sing in heaven ! Yes, they 
all sing there.' George was no singer, but ever 
after he became a Christian he had a strong de- 
sire to sing the songs of Zion. 

" He continued to converse thus for a half- 
hour ; his eyes flashed with unusual lustre, and 
his face was radiant with joy. Then liis physi- 
cal distress returned, lasting an hour or more. 
He besought me to pray that he might bear it 



92 MEMORIALS OF 

patiently, expressed his willingness to suffer all 
God's will, and that it was all right. 

" All at once his eyes were bent upwards, as 
though he looked into heaven ; his arms were 
extended, and in a loud, clear voice he said, 
' Oh, how splendid ! how splendid ! I see the 
Lord Jesus ! I see the angels ! Blessed Saviour ! 
glorious heaven ! There is my father ! Where is 
my place ? Ah ! there it is ! I am going so 
easily ! Angels are about me. How beautiful 
seem you all ! You are all Christians, are you not ? ' 

" The steward and nurses and attendants he 
besought to meet him above. ' Matron, I thank 
you for all you have done. God will reward you. 
You will meet me in heaven, will you not ? ' He 
repeated the word ^ splendid ' many times with 
great emphasis. 

" He continued in this exalted state for a half- 
hour or more, then sank into a state of great ex- 
haustion. Soon he beckoned me to his side, and 
whispered, ' I see it all now.' — ' What do you 
see ? ' I asked. * I'll tell you in the morning.' — 
* George, do you think you will live till morning ? ' 



LIEUT. G. II. WALCOTT. 93 

— ' Yes ; but I shall not rest much. I shall svffer* 
I will tell you in the morning.' 

"He did suffer keenly all night. When we 
were alone, on the morrow, he said, ' I will tell 
you now why I suffer, — I can be more useful 
to those about me in this way. Well, if by suf- 
fering thus I can serve God best, I am willing 
to suffer as long as he wishes. I am ready to 
go any moment, or to stay and suffer longer — 
just as he pleases.' 

"On Friday his sufferings were intense. I 
besought the surgeon to give him somethhig to 
quiet him. He did so. It was the only time he 
took anything of the kind. Standing, with the 
chaplain, by his side, I remarked that before 
George left home he never shrank from his duty, 
but adopted it as a rule of life to stand up for 
Jesus, openly and bravely. He looked up, say- 
ing, ' Mother, since I have been in the army I 
am conscious of having endeavored to serve God 
to the best of my ability.' 

" At times, from intense suffering, he seemed 
oblivious of all about him, and would talk with 
Christ as though he were present in person. 



94 MEMORIALS OF 

" On Saturday night this was remarkable. 
Suffering exquisitely, he said, ' O Lord Jesus, 
you have promised to help me to bear this, and 
you will, — will you not ? You will keep near 
me and help me. Tou suffered so much more ! 
and I am willing to suffer all you wish me to do. 
I am ready to go now, or to stay and suffer 
longer. You had nails through your hands, and 
spikes through your feet, and they gave you 
vinegar and gall to drink, and they mocked you 
and scoffed at you. But here have I friends to 
minister to me. Oh ! my pains are not to be 
compared to thine.' 

" In speaking of the bright manifestation of 
heaven he had on Thursday night, he said: 
' O mother, I never was so happy in my life. 
I did not know I could be so happy.' When the 
chaplain stood by him on Friday morning, he 
lamented that the brightness was not like that 
of the night before. ' You have come out of the 
bright light into the shadow. But Jesus is just 
as near, though not so plainly seen, and you feel 
like trusting him the same, do you not ? ' — ' Oh 
yes,' he answered : ' I trust him just as much.' 



IJEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 95 

" On Sabbatli morning he said that he had 
suffered acutely during the night, and that he had 
tried to bear it without a murmur. He did bear 
it without a murmur. Before offering prayer 
this morning, I read the thirty -first Psalm — 
the last Scripture I read to his father, the last to 
George. 

" At half-past ten he complained of coldness. 
We wrapped him in blankets : he soon began 
to breathe very rapidly. His distress and hur- 
ried breathing increased. He commenced to 
pray aloud — ' O Lord Jesus, help me ; help me 
to bear this O Lord, I beseech — ' His voice 
broke and failed. He gave me a quick and 
searching look, then turned his eyes heavenward, 
and said, in a whisper, * Jesus is about to take 
me home — Jesus ' — fainter — ' Jesus ! ' Rapid 
breathing became long deep gasps, continuing an 
hour or more. At fifteen minutes before one 
o'clock, Sabbath noon, July 10, he was gone." 

Mrs. Walcott received letters from Phil- 
adelphia, kindly giving other reminiscen- 



9G MEMORIALS OF 

ces of lier son. The following are letters 
from Chaplain Shiras and ^Ir. Hyde : 

"Philadelphia, July 28, 18G4. 

"Dear Madam: — Your letter of the 24th 
was received last evening. It is my first intel- 
ligence respecting you since you went from us a 
mourner, carrying your dead for burial, two 
weeks ago last Monday. 

" I am rejoiced to learn that God has enabled 
you to bear up under your grief — to resign 
yourself to his wise ordering — and even amidst 
tears to say, ' God's will be done.' Thus does 
our heavenly Father constantly fulfil his prom- 
ise, that ' as our day, so shall our strength be.' 
Thus does our Christian faith, shedding its 
precious light upon the state of those who ' sleep 
in Jesus,' enable us to bear what would other- 
wise be the crushing grief of their departure 
fronf us. Blessed religion ! which thus takes the 
sting from death, the bitterness from grief, and 
the darkness from eternity. What should we 
be without it? What could we do? 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 97 

'* In compliance with your request, I state with 
pleasure what passed between your son and me 
on his first coming to the hospital. 

*• I saw him shortly after his arrival, — found 
him in a condition of extreme prostration, but 
cheerful and bright, — and after inquiring about 
his health, told him I hoped he knew where to 
look for strength. ' Oh, yes ! ' he answered, 

* that I do.' — ' You know Jesus, then, as your 
Saviour ? ' said I to him. * Yes ; I don't know 
what I should have done without him in this 
war.' — * He has sustained you, then, amidst 
all troubles ? ' — * Yes, indeed he has.* — ' Well, 
then, you can trust him to sustain you now ? ' — 

* Yes, that I can.' He was too much exhausted 
for further talk at that time, and so, offering a 
brief prayer for him, I left him in Christ's 
keeping. 

" The next day he was very feeble, and unable 
to talk much ; but the little conversation that we 
had showed he was resting trustfully on Christ, 
and finding him a precious, present Saviour. 
The mention of the name of Jesus brought a 
7 



98 MEMORIALS OF 

smile of pleasure to his face ; and every illusion 
to the comforts and blessings of the gospel was 
evidently welcomed. I repeated to him the 
twenty-third Psalm, his own lips going over it 
along with me. At the close he said, ' That's a 
splendid Psalm.' — * Yes/ I replied ; ' it is de- 
lightful to have the promise of Christ's presence 
at all times, even in the valley of the shadow of 
death ; and if he call you to pass through it, I 
hope you'll find him with you.' He gave a 
quick, inquiring look at me, and said, * Tell me, 
now, what you think ; am I going to die ? ' I 
said, * You are very sick, but I hope not danger- 
ously so. If we can only get your mother here 
to nurse you, I trust it will bring you up again. 
But you're ready for whatever may happen, are 
you not ? ' — * Yes,' he said, * I am ready. It's 
just as God pleases. He'll do what's right.' 

" He was so weak the next time I saw him that 
he could not converse, but listened, with appar- 
ently great interest and pleasure, to some hymns 
that I repeated ; such as, ' I lay my sins on Je- 
sus ; ' and to the earlier verses of the fifth chap- 
ter of the Second Epistle to the Cormthians. 



LIEUT. G. II. WALCOTT. 99 

" You came that evening, and saw for yourself 
how gentlj, peacefully, and sweetly God led him 

down towards death during the ensuing week, 

how he scattered every shade of terror from his 
prospects, — how he filled him with hope of a 
calm rest in heaven, —and how at last Christ 
came and took him to himself, that where he is, 
his servant might be also. 

" I rejoice exceedingly that the only death we 
have had since I have been in the hospital should 
have been so full of Christian comfort and so 
bright with Christian hope. And I cannot but 
hope that good will come from it to others ; 
though I do not yet see the full impression I 
first counted on. 

" The case shows plainly two or three things : 
First, the sure fruit of a right Christian train- 
ing. ^ Bring up a child in the way he should 
go, and when he is old he will not depart from 
It.' You say that you had made it your life 
work to bring up your children in such a way 
that they might honor God and do good in the 
world. And here you see how surely such sow- 



100 MEMORIALS OF 

ing brings a blessed harvest in the end. You 
waited, probably, for years for the full issue of 
that sowing ; but in due season came the golden 
ears. 

" The need of early choice of Christ is also 
shown. Had not your boy sought Jesus while 
in health, he would have found it very difficult, 
in the utter prostration of his sickness, to direct 
his thoughts to him. He had hardly power to 
think; and in his weakness could only just lie 
trustingly in the arms of the Saviour he had 
found, assured that he would not let him perish, 
or permit any to pluck him from his hands. 

" And then, too, how it shows us the power of 
the gospel to sustain, in view of the great change 
to eternity ! No one that watched your son, as 
he sank gradually away towards death, could fail 
to see what support he found in the promises of 
full salvation and eternal life through Christ. 
He had taken those promises to his heart and 
fully trusted them, — he knew whom he had 
believed, — he was confident that his Saviour 
would not leave him nor forsake him, and that 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 101 

God would not fail to fulfil thoroughly his words. 
And so he rested calmly on the sure hope of life 
through the Redeemer, and went, in that hope, 
serenely down the way to death. We cannot 
doubt that it was to rise, beyond death, into 
blessed immortality. 

" God give us all like faith in Jesus, and finally 
like peaceful death and happy life through him ! 

" I thank you for the photograph you send. It 
is a very pleasing one, and I shall cherish it as a 
memento of one whom I learned very much to 
love on earth, and hope yet to meet in heaven. 

" Assuring you of the pleasure with which I 
shall always hear from you, and praying that 
God may fully console you in your grief, 
I am, with great respect. 

Your servant in Christ, 
Alexander Shiras." 

Extract from the letter of Rev. J. C. Hyde : 

. . . . " Since your departure home, the matron 
has told me many things he said, and expressed 
herself very much profited by his words. She 



102 MEMORIALS OF 

said he was so grateful for little favors done him, 
and spoke of them so kindly, that she never could 
forget his words. My dear sister, your dear 
George is not lost — only gone before. He lived 
a lon'g life the last ten days he spent here ; longer 
than many who live threescore years and ten. 
His words will never die. His patience, his res- 
ignation, his faith and love, his almost inspiration, 
will never die. I never heard one talk who 
seemed so nearly inspired — never. His language 
was so well chosen and so appropriate, his voice 
so sweet, and his whole manner so triumphant, 
that I could scarcely resist the impression that he 
spoke with inspiration, especially on Thursday 
evening. How thankful ought you to be that 
you had such a son with you so long, that he 
died so triumphant a death, and left so good a 
testimony behind him ! 

I am, dear madam. 

Yours in Christ, 

J. C. Hyde." 

I give one other extract, from a letter to 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 103 

Mrs. Walcott from Capt. Swift, his comrade 
and friend : 

" Dear Madam : I first met George in 

Washington, D. C. Out of nine applicants we 
alone passed the Board of Examination on the 
same day. He passed an excellent examination. 
Next day we parted ; met again a month after- 
wards at Baltimore, when he was ordered to re- 
port to me for recruiting service. We proceeded 
to Kent Island, Md. We slept together, and 
every night before retiring he knelt and offered 
prayer. He observed that I did not, and re- 
quested me to kneel with him, and I did so. 
Every one loved him, even the secessionists. We 
returned to Baltimore. One Sabbath he heard 
me swear. About an hour after I received a 
note with my name upon the envelope. I read 
it thoughtfully. It commented on the evil of 
swearing, and was from George. I went to his 
tent, and told him I would try and swear no more, 
and be a better man. I think I have tried to do 
60 since. He was respected by all, and was as 



104 MEMORIALS OF 

brave an officer as he was good. He was taken 
ill at Old Church, Va. If he had taken my ad- 
vice, he might have recovered ; but he did not 
wish to leave the regiment, and was sent to the 
hosj^ital too late. All the little delicacies I could 
procure I gave him ; for which he was very 
grateful. He thought a great deal of you, his 
little brother, and his sister. He thought no one 
equal to ' dear mother,' and would sit hours with 
me reading your good letters, and talking of you 
and of his father. Hoping that the thoughts of 
his goodness will comfort you, and those around 
you, and that I shall meet him in heaven, 
I remain, very respectfully, 

C. N. Swift, 
Capt. 30th U. S. C. T." 

" Near Petersburg, Va., 

Sept. 10, 1SG4. 

" Dear Madam : While at Old Church 

an incident occurred which showed the manhness 
and heroism of Lieut. Walcott. A dash was 
made upon our lines by the rebel cavalry. Our 



LIEUT. G. H. WALCOTT. 105 

regiment was ordered to support the pickets. 
No one thought of the Lieutenant going out ; but 
when we had advanced a half-mile I saw him, 
and besought him to go back; but he said he 
should advance as long as he was able, if we 
were going into a fight. We advanced a mile, 
and halted. I saw that George was exhausted. 
I again asked him to go back. He replied, * Do 
you think I am coward enough to go back now ?' 
I replied, ' It is not cowardly for a man to retire 
when too unwell to stay.' I went to the surgeon. 
He sent him back in an ambulance. His was a 
Christian's life. I wish we had many more like 
Lieut. AYalcott. Of no act of his did he need to 
feel ashamed. Kind and noble, he was a warm 
friend and agreeable associate. We are now in 
the trenches near the Weldon Railroad. 
I am, very truly, yours, 

L. W. Detrich, 
2d Lieut. Co. E, 30th U. S. C. T." 

This closes these memoirs. Let them 
go forth. These simple annals of a brave 



106 MEMORIALS OF 

young Christian may kindle in some of 
our young men a manly purpose and Chris- 
tian aspiration. Those who knew him will 
welcome these memorabilia, and deem them, 
I believe, just and truthful. 

The world and the church need men^ — 
high-minded, Christian men, like him whose 
life has here been sketched. 

" earth, so full of dreary noises ! 
O men, with wailing in your voices! 
delved gold, the waller's heap ! 
O strife! O curse that o'er it fall! — 
God makes a silence through you all. 
And 'giveth his beloved sleep.' " 



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